Estonia 0 England 8: Arsenal's Danielle Carter hits hat-trick in dream debut

Kick start: Carter celebrates one of her three Engtland goals
Joosep Martinson/Getty Images
James Benge21 September 2015

Danielle Carter capped a dream debut with a hat-trick as England opened their Euro 2017 qualifying campaign with an emphatic 8-0 victory over Estonia at A. Le Coq Arena on Monday.

The Arsenal striker opened the scoring in the early exchanges and added two more late on as England went top of qualifying Group Seven after their first match.

Jo Potter was on target against former coach Keith Boanas' side, while Fran Kirby claimed a brace either side of goals from Jill Scott and debutant Isobel Christiansen.

Carter got England off to a flying start as she put the visitors ahead just two minutes in with her second effort on goal, beating six defenders as she controlled Jess Clarke's cross well and fired home.

Notts County winger Clarke had a great effort on target midway through the first half but Estonia goalkeeper Getter Laar was equal to the effort.

Joosep Martinson/Getty Images

The home side had a half-chance to equalise down at the other end but England stopper Carly Telford was well placed to save Signy Aarna's shot.

England started to lose their focus as the half wore on but they pushed forward with 14 minutes remaining. Left-footed Potter took two corners in quick succession, the second finding Kirby at the far post, whose close-range shot rattled the crossbar.

Ten minutes before the break, Kirby and Potter linked up well to double England's score. Kirby put a neat side pass into the box and Birmingham midfielder Potter collected the ball and swept it into the bottom corner for her third international goal.

The away side made it three after 40 minutes as Gemma Davison provided a through ball for club-mate Kirby and the Chelsea striker made no mistake as she tapped home on her 14th England appearance.

Joosep Martinson/Getty Images

Kaire Palmaru fired wide as the hosts attempted a to pull one back on the stroke of half-time but they went into the break 3-0 down with a mountain to climb.

The rain started to come down as the second half got under way, while Kirby fired wide moments later and captain Steph Houghton also missed the target.

Scott put England further ahead as she side-footed the ball home seven minutes after the break following a great fast-paced run and cross from Davison.

England were denied a fifth as Kirby had a goal ruled out for offside - but they pushed forward again and Manchester City's Christiansen capped her debut as her half-volley from the edge of the box found the back of the net after 74 minutes.

Kirby finally got the second goal she was looking for as she capitalised after Carter's shot was parried towards the Blues forward, who tapped into the roof of the net, before opener Carter netted her second as she fired home substitute Ellen White's cross to make it 7-0 with seven minutes left.

Carter completed her hat-trick in added time, firing into the far corner from the edge of the 18-yard box to put a dream touch on her first England start in Tallinn.

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